


Slivers of the Void

by KarnacasRaven



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Billie Lurk - Freeform, Emily Kaldwin - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-17 03:24:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 8,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14179458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarnacasRaven/pseuds/KarnacasRaven
Summary: A collection of short Corvosider pieces from prompts or requests on tumblr.





	1. Mermaid

The Leviathan is called that because the only sure thing known of him is his size, if anything could be known of him at all. Many believe he isn’t real, and more still know that stories of the creature are more myth than history, legends created by sailors who want to tell fascinating tales about wrecked whaling ships crashed on the shore or ships that never return at all. They say he’s been alive for millennia, that he’s longer than any ship, that his teeth are like knives and his eyes black as night. 

Corvo isn’t sure where that part of the myth came from; from where he stands, the creature’s eyes are a vibrant sea green. 

Instinct catches hold of him as the Leviathan’s massive head rises out of the water. Corvo freezes for a solid ten seconds before he bolts towards the deck rails and leaps into the water, and he does so just in time to see enormous, black nailed hands begin to tear the ship apart. 

It’d been his first whaling trip, something he’d done for money rather than love for the trade. They’d told him it’d be dangerous, that some people drown and some people lose limbs, but this - 

The creature, disregarding his size, looks to be a man at first glance, but everything about his appearance is unsettling, from those old green eyes to his deathly pale skin, untouched by the sun after centuries of swimming where the light didn’t reach and looking all the more ghostly against raven hair. That skin shimmers near translucent, darkened blue and speckled white near his hips, and grand fins disappear under churning waves. His nails are even more like knives than his teeth, and look like jagged obsidian stones set in his fingers. The ship, for all it’s impenetrable steel, is no match, and the sound of metal being ripped apart is vicious in Corvo’s ears. He dives to avoid falling wreckage, heart pounding in his chest as sharp metal pieces carve through the water, and through the mess of air bubbles and leaking fuel, he can see a pod of whales dancing close by, in numbers far greater than the entirety of Gristol has seen in years. 

Corvo wonders, for just a moment, if it’s possible that he could be dreaming. 

The Leviathan tears the ship to shreds in a matter of moments; Corvo thinks it’s only a few more heartbeats until it all goes quiet again, and the waves created by the creatures massive body as he dives back into the water carries Corvo further out to sea. He’s freezing already, he realizes, and he’ll die from hypothermia if he doesn’t drown first. A wave crashes over his head, and he barely has time to suck in his breath before he’s pushed under, salt stinging at his eyes. The Leviathan, in all his massive glory, floats by slow and unhurried. The creature looks at him curiously with those giant green eyes, as if wondering how a human could hope to survive him by jumping into the sea. 

Corvo flails underwater, panic rising in his chest, and then the Leviathan reaches out and lifts him towards the sky. Corvo gasps for air as he surfaces, brain struggling to catch up, and he can see those giant eyes still looking at him underwater, can still hear the loud echo of whale song close by. Something itches under his shirt, along his upper ribs. 

The Leviathan bares his teeth and lowers Corvo back into the water. Corvo wonders if that’s supposed to be a smile, and then he wonders why the seawater suddenly feels natural in his lungs. 


	2. Moon

When it crashes, Corvo thinks it’s a bomb.

The flash of light and enormous crash from outside the Hound Pitts Pub is enough to rouse him from his slumber, even in his state of exhaustion. He opens his eyes and for a moment is nearly blinded, and then the light quickly fades to a faint glow and all Corvo can think about is _Emily_.

He’s climbing out his window to get to her little tower in an instant, barefoot and only in his trousers, sword gripped in his hand, only to see that Emily is _also_ climbing over the little bridge to see him, a look of delight on her face.

“Corvo!” she cries, ignoring Callista’s frantic calls. “Corvo, did you see that? I think it was a falling star! Can we go see it, can we? It fell in the water by the dock! Can we go look, please?” 

Corvo doesn’t want to tell her that stars certainly do not fall into rivers, but he doesn’t want to scare her by saying that he’s not sure what kind of contraption it could be either. “Wait here,” he says instead, and ignores her whining as he climbs down from the bridge.

Sure enough, whatever it is is still glowing in the water. Corvo can hear everyone in the pub waking in panic, and - and it’s moving.

Corvo stops short on the beach. The light under the dark, murky water is moving closer, movements slow and ragged as if whatever’s causing it - if it’s alive - is weakened. Corvo suddenly wishes he’d grabbed his pistol. He can barely make out a shape in the water, and the light’s getting dimmer and dimmer until it outlines a _person_ , and Corvo’s heart leaps into his throat. He flips his sword in his hand, ready to both defend himself or slash forward if need be, but before he can gather his thoughts enough to form a proper plan of action, the person bursts from the water, gasping for air and dragging himself through the mud.

It’s a man - short and slender, with skin so pale he’s almost bright and short, cropped hair like a crow’s feathers. Under the faint lamplight from the pub, he’s nearly eerie in appearance.

And he’s naked.

Corvo feels his cheeks go faintly red out of a mix of surprise and embarrassment, distracted only because the man collapses on the bank just as the last of that strange glow fades from his body. Corvo hesitates, and holds out his hand as he hears the others approach. They stop, worried murmurs running through the group, voices rising in alarm as Corvo takes a careful step closer.

“Are you alright?” he asks quietly. 

The man looks up, startling green eyes blinking up at Corvo blearily before focusing in what Corvo could swear is recognition. “Ah,” says the man, who sounds as if he hasn’t spoken in a very long time, or perhaps like he isn’t sure of how loud he might be. “I landed closer than I thought.” He sounds as if he’s pleased by this, and shakily tries to climb to his feet before his knees suddenly give out. Corvo finds himself lurching forward to catch him, and gets an arm around the man’s skinny waist before his knees hit.

“What happened to you?” Corvo demands, trying to piece together what he’s looking at and not at all sure of where to even start. 

“Nothing _happened_ ,” the man stresses. “I did this on purpose. I jumped.” 

Corvo stares at him. “From where?”

“The sky, of course.” 

The sky. Corvo decides the man must have a concussion, which is only natural, given the circumstances. “Do you remember your name?” he asks patiently.

The man blinks. “Don’t you recognize me?” he asks, sounding a little hurt.

Corvo opens his mouth and shuts it. “Should I?” he asks after a moment.

“I suppose not,” the man says somberly, looking down at his naked body. He sighs, as if terribly inconvenienced. “Dear Corvo,” the man says then, almost tenderly, and Corvo would have time to startle at the fact that the man knows his name if he wasn’t busy being startled at the delicate touch of muddy fingers to his jaw. “Haven’t you noticed? I’m the moon.” 

Corvo almost scoffs, and then he hears Martin swear something that an Overseer absolutely should not swear. When he looks over, all the Loyalists are looking up at the sky. Corvo follows their gaze, and sure enough, where the moon was just the night before, full and bright, there’s an empty space in the sky.

“Corvo!” he hears Emily shout. “Corvo, can I come see now? What is it?”

The man who claims to be the moon flashes Corvo a fond - mischievous - smile, like he’s just pulled off a very grand trick and is plainly delighted at Corvo’s reaction.

Corvo tries to think of a way to answer his daughter and winds up speechless.


	3. Faerie

Emily has not thought anything of her slightly pointed ears since she was a child. 

She’d been teased for them once upon a time, little Emily with her weird ears, and had admittedly started wearing her hair over them for that reason. But she was older now, a young woman of 17, and for a long time she’d hardly thought of it. 

But she’s thinking about it now, and she’s thinking about how her late mother’s ears had been smooth and round; how her father’s hair had been down to his jaw for as long as she can remember, and so she rarely sees his ears. 

She knows they’re pointed, of course, but Corvo had always brushed off any questions she’d asked as a child with simple answers. _I was just born that way,_ he’d say. _I’m a foreigner_ , he’d say, _from Elfame._

Emily, as she follows him through the woods from a distance, tries to think of any map she’s seen with her father’s village on it, and finds that she can’t. 

For a very, very long time, Corvo had not gone out to have any sort of fun, not since her mother’s passing. Emily recalls a long three years where her father had rarely left the house except to work to provide for her, and for years after that he’d only go out to see old Samuel at the pub upon her insistence. But lately - just for the past few weeks or so - Emily’s caught him leaving the house in the dead of night, when he thinks she’s asleep. 

This, naturally, is how Emily justifies following him. If he didn’t want her to investigate, he ought to not sneak out of the house like a teenager, and if he didn’t want to be followed, he ought to not teach her how to walk through the woods without making a sound. 

Still, she’s nervous. If Corvo catches her, he’ll punish her for being out in the woods so late - which is unfair, she thinks, all things considered - and truthfully, she’s never gone so deep into the forest. In truth, should she lose him, she’s not entirely sure how to get back. 

Corvo interrupts her train of thought by stopping suddenly. Emily peeks from around a tree and finds that he’s staring at a circle of mushrooms. _Faerie Rings,_ he’d called them before, and always warned her to avoid them.  _Faeries aren’t real, Father,_ she’d said as a girl, to which he’d smiled and replied, _Maybe not, but better to be safe than sorry._

It’s for this reason that it shocks her when he steps into it. She almost shrieks when he suddenly vanishes. 

After catching her breath, Emily approaches the mushrooms warily. They seem harmless, but she _did_ just witness them eat her father, so she stays careful. The space Corvo had occupied just moments ago has a faint glow to it, a sparkle, and Emily’s curiosity gets the better of her. 

She steps into his footprints, blinks, and finds herself in the woods again, only a very different woods. 

All the trees look wrong, too big and old and winding, as if a giant had twisted them around its fingers like blades of grass. There are flowers growing everywhere suddenly, though their petals are closed for the night, save for a few that line what could be a trail, and what’s more, the open petals glow. 

And everything is very still. 

“Who are you?” croaks a little voice. Emily jumps and looks down, and sees a enormous toad. 

“Well?” the toad says. “Who’s child are you?” 

“You’re talking,” Emily manages. 

“I know,” says the toad impatiently. “You’re an infant. Who left you? Who’s child are you?” 

“Nobody left me,” Emily replies, because she doesn’t know what else to say, though she should’ve insisted that she was not an infant. “I’m following my father.” 

“Who?” 

“Corvo Attano,” she answers, because she’s too stunned to come up with a lie. 

The toad’s throat bulges full of air, and it croaks again - a normal frog croak this time - then says, “Follow the flowers then, child.” It tilts its head at her, then adds, “Don’t dance, or eat anything.” And then, under it’s breath, it grumbles, “Human halflings…pah,” and hops away.  

Emily follows the flowers in a bit of a daze. 

The trail leads her past more strange plants and stranger animals: giant white stags with unreasonably large antlers, trees that bear fruit but have no leaves, foxes with people eyes and butterflies with faces. Emily glances back once and finds that where she walked, the flowers lit up even brighter than before. 

And she can hear strange music, growing louder as she approaches. 

When the last of the flowers fade away, Emily finds herself facing a particularly overgrown thicket, light poking from between twisted branches and terrible thorns. Emily touches one and marvels as the brush shrinks back, forming an archway just large enough for her to fit through. Emily steps through and finds herself in the midst of a rather wild party. 

The people are startlingly beautiful, their silken hair lined with flowers and leaves, their smooth skin flawless and more shades than Emily’s ever seen. Some have iridescent wings growing from their back, others sprout horns from their temples, and others still have eyes that are much like a fox’s. All of them have pointed ears. Emily suddenly feels overwhelmed. 

“Who are you?” says a not-so-small voice. Emily jumps again, and glances to her right. A winged woman with dark skin and cropped hair looks at her expectantly, one eye cut out and replaced with an eerie black jewel. 

“I’m Emily,” she squeaks. 

The woman frowns at her. “You’re a baby,” she says. “Who’s child are you?” 

Lost, Emily only says, “Corvo Attano’s.” 

The woman wrinkles her nose. “To let his baby daughter out so late,” she scoffs. “A halfling baby, too.” She motions to the crowd with a blackened hand - Emily stares - and says, “There’s your father, child. Tell him to take you home.” 

Emily looks. In the center of a thick crowd of what must be faerie bodies, Emily spots him, looking younger than he’s ever looked. Corvo’s eyes are closed, his hair tied back to reveal pointed ears, his clothes replaced with shimmering, vibrant red silks, a silver crown of brambles in his hair. He’s dancing to that strange music like Emily’s never seen anybody dance before, like someone’s been holding him down for years and years and only finally had the sense to let him loose. Beside him, a pale young man dressed all in black dances just as wildly, brilliant green eyes fixed on Corvo, and a matching silver crown on his head. When his slender hands aren’t in Corvo’s, they’re gliding carefree over Corvo’s hips. 

Emily suddenly feels like she’s seen something she shouldn’t have. “Where am I?” she asks, heart hammering in her chest, in time to that strange song. 

The woman raises her brow, as if Emily’s asked something ridiculous. “Elfame,” she says plainly. “What, did you think you were still in the human realm?”


	4. Verbena

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A gift for a friend, in which the Outsider visits Corvo the night before the Blade Verbena.

“May I watch you?” the young man says. **  
**

He’s Corvo’s age, it seems. Corvo’s having trouble looking at his eyes. Corvo’s dreaming, and he knows it, so he supposes it doesn’t matter. The sky is an ethereal and wrong shade of blue, the ground beneath him made of black stone. Nearby, his bedroom floats, split open and closed off, as if there’s nothing beyond his door. In the distance, there’s faint whale song. In his hand, there’s an elegant sword far better than his own. It’s balanced perfectly, sharp enough to slice clean through a man.

Corvo nods, flipping the sword over his palm to grasp it underhanded. He’s getting faster with his little trick.  

“When most come here,” the young man says with interest, “Their first instinct is not to pick up a blade. Most want to explore.”

Corvo parries an imaginary thrust, twists his blade in the air like he would to disarm. He pauses. “It’s just a dream,” he says.

The young man smiles.

Corvo turns back to his swordsmanship. “Have I met you?” he asks.

“In life?…No, dear Corvo, you have not.”

Corvo twists his wrist, flips that pretty blade over his palm and watches it fold shut. He’s never seen such a sword. “But you know my name,” he says with faint irritation at being called _dear_ , and attempts another look at the young man’s face.

“Isn’t this your dream?” the young man teases. He’s deathly pale, too skinny, hair as dark as ink and eyes that match. He doesn’t look right in any sense.

Corvo only frowns.

“On the eve of the Blade Verbena, he dreams,” the young man says, perhaps a bit dramatically, as if he’s about to tell a grand story. “Corvo Attano enters a place of emptiness and focuses so keenly on his future that he envisions a blade like no other, and nothing else. Tell me, what will that trophy grant you? A simple victory? A party? The attention of young women?” He vanishes; Corvo jumps as the stranger’s voice suddenly sounds at his side. “So many people want fleeting nothings,” he says, hovering at Corvo’s right shoulder, “and are lost once they’re gone. What comes after this?”

“You’re talkative for a dream,” Corvo remarks.

The young man’s smile seems the faintest bit wicked. Corvo’s amused him somehow. “Tomorrow could change your entire life, Corvo,” he says.

“I want it to,” Corvo replies.

“The Duke himself will be there.”

“I know that.”

“Is that what you want? A shot at fame?”

“I want to be a soldier.”

The stranger flicks away again, pieced apart in black shards before he’s there again, taking hold of Corvo’s left hand. “You could be grander,” he says. Corvo feels too aware of the stranger’s cold, boney fingers, like he could be real or _ought_ to be and isn’t.

Corvo pulls his hand away. The young man looks like he might laugh. Corvo tells him, “‘I will be.”

“You will be,” the stranger repeats, the barest edge of delight in his voice. “You’re always so single-minded, my dear Corvo. I know few like you.” 

Corvo doesn’t think he’s single-minded. He knows what he wants, and what he wants is to be _something_ , to be more than another lumberer from Karnaca, another kid chasing after a father or a sister he can’t reach. He feels a restless burning in his chest that only lets him be when he has a sword in his hand and he’s _good_ , he knows it. The Verbena will be filled with skilled sword fighters, with people who’ve been trained since they could hold a stick, with people who’ve gone to school for it. But Corvo’s good. He knows this. He was _made_ for this.

“Tomorrow will be a turning point,” the young man says. “Tomorrow, the world may tilt just a little further towards ruin. What will you do if you lose?”

Corvo flips the folded blade open again. He can see his reflection in the sleek steel, and nothing else; not that eerie blue sky, not the jagged black stone in the distance. Not the stranger.

“I won’t lose,” he says.

The stranger smiles. Corvo feels he must be older than 16. “That’s a predictable thing to say,” the young man says.

“Isn’t that the point?” Corvo returns.  

“You,” says the stranger, with a satisfied little smile, “are nothing like a soldier, Corvo Attano, and for that, I might pity you.”

Corvo wakes.


	5. Late Hours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tumblr request: "Human Outsider falls asleep while reading or working on something. Corvo tucks him in, then maybe gives up and just joins him."

Corvo thinks the Outsider (Levi, now) might rest even less than he does. 

He finds the man asleep at his desk - again - slumped over stacks of finished pages and a scattered pile of pages with typos, a half finished paragraph still set in the typewriter. Corvo skims it and finds he’s writing about the reign of Jessamine’s grandfather.

 _The Royal Historian,_ Emily had dubbed him after he’d complained about the inaccuracy of the library’s history section, and when he wasn’t dozing off over his work he seemed to enjoy it. Corvo just wishes he could find it in him to fall asleep in their bed.

“You’ll have a bad back when you get older,” Corvo murmurs affectionately, smoothing Levi’s bangs back gently. He bends down and hooks his arm under Levi’s knees and scoops him up, pushing the chair back with his foot as he does so. 

Levi stirs and blinks awake, eyes betraying his exhaustion. “M’awake,” he mumbles, and Corvo snorts quietly. 

“How will you re-write history if you can’t see your typewriter?” he teases. 

“You have some nerve, Royal Protector,” Levi says, even as he slumps against Corvo’s shoulder and reaches up to comb through the short hair at the base of Corvo’s neck. 

 _That’s fair,_ Corvo thinks, because there’ve been too many nights when Levi retired long before he did, and he never complains, but some days - days when Corvo has been unable to come to bed early for weeks - he’s a little clingier than usual. Some days he can’t help tugging Corvo’s hand up for a kiss as they pass in the halls, and some days he visits Corvo’s office - or even Emily’s - just for a chance to see Corvo’s face. 

Corvo feels a little lacking in that regard, sometimes. 

He sets Levi down on their bed and kisses his forehead while Levi rubs at his eyes and starts kicking off his boots. Corvo puts them away for him and watches in amusement as Levi struggles with his shirt buttons. “Come here,” he says fondly, and shoos Levi’s hands away. While he’s undoing the buttons, Levi presses a kiss to his temple, and another to his cheek, and another still along his jaw. 

“You’re half asleep,” Corvo reminds him. 

“I miss you,” Levi says as he shrugs out of his shirt, and he looks at Corvo with those startling green eyes and Corvo’s heart _tugs_. 

“And I, you,” Corvo returns, throat feeling thick. “Some other time, when you’re rested. I promise.” 

Levi grumbles something in an old language Corvo doesn’t recognize, and Corvo hangs up his shirt while Levi takes off his trousers and climbs into bed. Corvo presses another kiss to Levi’s temple, and Levi’s breath is already evening out. 

Corvo still has work waiting on his desk. 

He makes it to the doorway, has one foot already out in the hall before he stops, _I miss you_ ringing in his ears. Levi’s slender frame looks too small in that king-sized bed, and he doesn’t have any business looking that small when Corvo could be there to fill all that empty space. 

He sighs and thinks, _Void, give me strength_ , and then he’s undoing his vest and kicking off his shoes, and he should be tidier really but his shirt and pants go on the floor because he can’t find it in himself to give a damn. Levi’s awake again, watching him with barely contained delight. 

“Is that all it takes?” he asks with amusement as Corvo climbs into bed. “Must I simply toss a few sweet words your way to make you join me each night?” 

“Levi,” Corvo chides, because if he could do this every night he would, and Levi knows that. 

“My dear Corvo,” Levi sighs back, and settles against Corvo’s chest.


	6. Garden Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tumblr request: Fluffy Corvosider.

“You’ll work yourself to death,” Levi says softly. 

Corvo opens one eye to peek at him through his lashes and ends up wrinkling his nose as sunlight briefly blinds him. Levi leans over him to offer shade, smoothing Corvo’s hair back before pressing a kiss to his forehead. 

They sunbathe in the gardens, trying to get some color onto Levi’s pale cheeks, though Corvo had begun dozing off in his lap almost instantly. Long days and late nights have taken their toll, and now that he’s not Void-touched anymore, Corvo can feel his age starting to catch up with him. He can’t remember the last time he wasn’t tired. 

“I’m fine,” he says. 

“You’re more predictable in this aspect than you are in any other,” Levi says, clicking his tongue. “My dear Corvo, I’m beginning to think you’ll never rest.” 

Corvo reaches back to wrap his arm around Levi’s waist. “I’m resting now,” he says, tilting his chin up. 

“You’re falling asleep on our date,” Levi huffs, and kisses him anyway.

Corvo shifts and rolls into his side, thumbing circles against Levi’s thigh. “This isn’t a date,” he says, sulking a little at the suggestion. “I can do better than this for a date.” 

“This is a fine date,” Levi says firmly, and Corvo scoffs, because he’d take Levi out to dinner for a date, or bring him flowers, or something, but if Levi wants to call it a date then Corvo isn’t going to argue. 

“If you say so,” he says, and closes his eyes again while Levi runs fingers through his hair. 

“I have seen every possible way for humans to entertain themselves, Corvo,” Levi says simply. “I have seen fine dinners, balls and parties, honeymoons and elopements and marriage ceremonies, and every other way that lovers might entertain each other.” He brushes Corvo’s hair back once more, then traces a light finger over the shell of Corvo’s ear. “Sitting here in this garden with you is enough,” he murmurs. 

Corvo is quiet, but after a moment, he sits up just enough to tug Levi in for a kiss.  


	7. Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tumblr request: "aight heres a happy one: modern AU where Corvo's had a rough day at work and has a good as nap on the couch and the Outsider decides to make him some bomb ass dinner but ends up fucking it up and they just order pizza or something"

Maybe if Corvo wasn’t so tired, he’d have woken up at the smell of smoke. 

Instead, he wakes to the smoke alarm blaring from the kitchen, and because he’s in the middle of a Couch Nap, which are less like naps and more like closing your eyes and drifting in and out of limbo, he jumps nearly a foot in the air. It takes a moment for his brain to orient itself enough to take in his surroundings - couch, work clothes, tv, living room - before he’s bolting towards the kitchen, and makes it just in time to hear Levi turn on the fire extinguisher. 

“What’s going on?” he asks, heart still thudding in his chest. 

Now Levi jumps. “Corvo! I -” he stops, pale cheeks flushing with embarrassment, and looks at the foamy mess on the stove. 

Corvo blinks. Underneath some of that foam, he thinks he might see a skillet. “What are you doing?” he asks, because he’s frankly still half asleep and not entirely processing what he’s seeing. 

Levi exhales and puts the fire extinguisher down, shoulders tense with frustration. “Making you dinner,” he says lamely. “Or trying to.”

“You made me dinner?” 

“I’m sorry for waking you,” Levi says gruffly, making a _shoo_ motion in Corvo’s direction. “Go back to sleep, I’ll clean up.” 

There’s a long silence, and Levi’s cheeks are getting darker by the second, and then Corvo bursts into laughter. 

“How is this funny?” Levi demands. 

Corvo opens his mouth and only manages another snort, and he can tell Levi’s trying his best not to smile. “You hate cooking,” he laughs, stepping into the kitchen to press a fond kiss to Levi’s temple. 

“You were tired,” Levi objects, though any embarrassed tension is already bleeding from his shoulders, “So I took it upon myself to make you dinner.” 

Corvo makes another faint noise of amusement. “Sweet of you, love,” he murmurs into Levi’s hair, and he likes the way Levi’s cheeks go warm again in response. “Let’s just pick a movie and order pizza.” 

Levi looks mildly displeased. “Are you sure?” 

“Mmhmm.” Corvo leans down just enough for his lips to brush against Levi’s ear. “But I appreciate the effort…I’ll thank you properly later, if you want.” 

“You’re insufferable,” Levi says, beet red now, and Corvo laughs at him again. 


	8. Stumble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kissy Prompts #2 - moving around while kissing, stumbling over things, pushing each other back against the wall/onto the bed. A tumblr request.

“Levi,” Corvo manages, and then his tongue is occupied. His hand swipes over his desk as he tries to keep his balance, and paper scatters across the floor. Levi accidentally kicks his trashcan over. He’s got Corvo’s jacket tight in his fists. 

“Levi -” Corvo tries again, breathless, only to cut himself off as his spine hits the wall. 

“For four thousand years,” Levi says in that assertive way he does, and those sharp green eyes nearly make Corvo shiver, “I have given my gifts as little nudges, as a means of achieving victory for the desperate and ambitious. For four thousand years, I have wanted and yearned, and I have stamped down that yearning with the knowledge that I could never have what I so craved. Four thousand years, and I have never been able to take anything for myself.” 

Corvo’s heart has enough time to ache before Levi’s kissing him again, hungry and restless and maybe with too much teeth. Corvo feels warmth blossoming in his belly, feels like there’s too much air in his lungs and not enough all at once. 

Levi breaks just enough to stop kissing him, though Corvo can still feel the man’s breath against his lips. “There’s nothing stopping me from pursuing what I want now,” he says, a whisper, something close to reverent. “Nothing but you, and that damned paperwork of yours.” He swallows; his hands tremble. “Tell me to stop, Corvo.” 

Corvo wants to glance over at the mess of papers on his desk and doesn’t. There’s a tense kind of stillness in the air, like if he spoke too quickly or moved just enough, he’d ruin this delicate moment. Maybe Levi would spook like a startled hare. Maybe he would. His heart hasn’t beat so fast in years, not without the accompaniment of clashing swords. 

“I don’t want to,” he breathes, and Levi recaptures his mouth. 


	9. Late Hours II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tumblr request: "For the prompts, Corvo enjoying the way the Outsider smells like. Or the Outsider coming up with reasons to nose around Corvo's neck 

“I’m trying to work,” Corvo says dryly.

“You’ve been working for hours,” Levi mutters, pressing a kiss to Corvo’s jaw. He’s half sitting on the arm of Corvo’s chair and half hanging off the man’s shoulders, nosing at whatever bare skin he can find. Corvo’s high collar isn’t helping much. 

“It’s called doing my job. You should try it sometime.” 

“And you should try relaxing sometime. Most people don’t work till such odd hours of the night.” 

“Most people aren’t the Royal Protector,” Corvo points out. 

Levi sighs against his ear. “Just looking at you makes me tired.” He pauses, then nips at Corvo’s earlobe. Corvo jumps. “And impatient.” 

Corvo sighs and puts down his report. “Levi,” he says, stern. 

“Corvo. Dearest.” Levi exhales and presses his forehead against Corvo’s temple. “You’re exhausted. Don’t think it’s hard to see the bags under your eyes, or the way your shoulders sag when you think no one is looking at you. You let your worries guide the rest of you and that may keep you alive, but it will not keep you sane or happy, and one day you will have to let them go.” He nudges Corvo’s chin until he’s angled his face enough to kiss his mouth, and Corvo reluctantly gives into it. “Your reports will be here in the morning, love. Let me have a moment with you.” 

Corvo’s brows knit, and after a moment, he sighs in defeat. Levi kisses him again, gentle and longing all at once.   
  
“You’ll be the death of me long before this paperwork,” Corvo murmurs against his mouth. 

Levi smiles all crooked, and climbs into his lap, and unbuttons Corvo’s shirt. Corvo tilts his head back, and Levi bites near his pulse. 


	10. Interruption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kissy Prompts #7 and #13: routine kisses where the other person presents their cheek/forehead for the hello/goodbye kiss without even looking up from what they’re doing AND following the kiss with a series of kisses down the neck. A tumblr request.

Corvo visits Levi in his office sometimes and always kisses Levi on his way out, and that’s normal. What’s unusual, by virtue of the fact that Corvo is a workaholic, is Corvo arriving and _staying_. 

Levi is nose deep in a very terrible history book, which is wrong on a grievous number of accounts, when Corvo - his darling Corvo - takes a break from his ever growing list of duties to bring him a cup of tea. 

“You spoil me,” Levi says fondly, taking the cup and sipping from it. 

Corvo smiles; Levi very nearly forsakes his tea in favor of smoothing his fingers over the laughter lines at the corners of Corvo’s eyes. “Bringing you tea is hardly spoiling you,” Corvo says. 

“You coming to visit me during your busy work day is,” Levi says appreciatively. 

Corvo’s cheeks go a little pink. Levi hides his grin behind his teacup. Corvo hovers at his side, glancing over what Levi’s been typing and what book he’s been reading. “You don’t have to re-write the entire library,” Corvo says with amusement. 

“I have to re-write what’s _wrong_ ,” Levi corrects primly, and Corvo laughs and leans down to kiss his temple. 

That’s usually the farewell signal; Levi mourns the shortness of Corvo’s visit and reaches for his book again, but then Corvo kisses his cheek, and noses his way to Levi’s jaw and kisses there, too. Levi blinks in surprise, glancing up at him curiously. “Corvo?” 

“Hm?” Corvo answers, nudging the hand that holds the teacup towards the desk as if to request it be put down. 

Levi feels his skin growing warm, and he could curse his paleness for exposing him so. He can feel Corvo smiling against his throat. “What’s gotten into you?” Levi asks, intrigue bleeding into his voice. He sets his cup down, leaves his book on the desk. 

Corvo draws back very slightly, just enough to meet Levi’s gaze. He’s got that abandoned puppy look on his face, the one that means he was attempting to do his work before he grew bored and lonely. Levi laughs before he can catch himself. Corvo rubs their noses together. 

“And to think,” Levi says, with no small air of satisfaction, “I thought I was being well behaved by letting you work in peace today.”

“Shut up,” Corvo says affectionately, and Levi kisses him. 


	11. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kissy Prompts #3: kissing so desperately that their whole body curves into the other person’. A tumblr request.

When the Outsider, now human, says that he wants to see Corvo Attano, Billie finds herself as unsurprised as she is exasperated. 

When Attano had escaped the Flooded District, he’d either slipped past or defeated every whaler he came across, and he’d beaten Daud within an inch of his life. Billie still remembers finding him, bleeding out and still marveling at the mercy of a man made of murder and righteous fury. In his delirium, Daud had mumbled that he knew why the _black eyed bastard_ had marked the former Lord Protector. At the time, Billie’d believed they were all mad. Now, she figures that the Outsider just has a certain kind of fascination with the rogue sort of royalty like - or related to - a Kaldwin. 

While resting in an inn, Billie busies herself with a plan to get past the guards without getting killed. The ex-Outsider flees to the bathroom and scrubs himself clean for hours. Billie jokes that he’s already pale enough to sparkle; the ex-Outsider flushes a vibrant pink. 

Billie ends up knocking out most of the guards because that’s less work than trying to convince them not to arrest her, which she figures the Empress will probably be at least a little amused by (she is). When she enters the throne room, the Empress relaxes and laughs and welcomes her; at Emily’s side, Corvo Attano looks a bit furious, but folds his sword. 

And then he sees the ex-Outsider, who’s trailing in at Billie’s heels, and all the anger slips from his face. 

“Hello, my dear Corvo,” the ex-Outsider says, and he almost sounds a little nervous, like he’s embarrassed or like he’s afraid of what Attano might think. 

 Attano’s sword clatters to the floor. The Empress startles and looks up to question him, but he’s already rushing from her side and suddenly he’s gathering the ex-Outsider into his arms, pulling his thin body so close that the once-god has to lean back so he doesn’t get crushed. Billie stares, and Emily stares, and Attano is _kissing_ the ex-Outsider and the ex-Outsider has his fingers tight in Attano’s graying hair and they’re pressed so close they nearly fold into each other. 

When they break, Attano cups the ex-Outsider’s face in his hands, and Billie thinks he might be a little misty eyed. The ex-Outsider looks absolutely elated, like he’s been looking forward to that kiss for a long while, like he’s imagined it a thousand times before and only now sees that he could’ve never done the real thing justice. 

 _Ah_ , Billie thinks. 


	12. Early Hours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kissy Prompts #6: lazy morning kisses before they’ve even opened their eyes, still mumbling half-incoherently, not wanting to wake up. A tumblr request.

Corvo wakes before dawn most days. Levi is fundamentally opposed to this practice. He is not fundamentally opposed to being kissed awake. 

Most mornings, Corvo simply kisses Levi’s forehead on his way out. He’s careful not to to make noise while he gets dressed, and Levi never hears a thing. Today though, it’s kisses along Levi’s neck and shoulder that wakes him, and the sun is already up when he opens his eyes. 

Levi turns to glance at Corvo over his shoulder, raising his brow curiously. 

“Good morning,” Corvo says, voice still sleep rough against Levi’s back, eyes still shut. Levi feels a little flutter in his belly. 

“Good morning,” he replies, visibly pleased. “You’re here late.” 

“Emily made me take a day off,” Corvo mumbles, and presses another kiss to his shoulder. 

“Oh?” Levi says. “You didn’t tell me.” 

“Surprise.” 

Levi snorts and rolls over; Corvo opens one eye to watch his lover shift in his arms, and closes it again when Levi kisses his brow. “You must have been exhausted to sleep this late,” Levi murmurs. 

“Mm,” Corvo says eloquently, and dozes off while Levi kisses his eyelid and his cheek and his bottom lip in no particular order. 

“Do you want to get up?” Levi asks. 

“Mm-mm.” 

“Not even for breakfast?” 

“Mm-mm.”

Levi noses at him, green eyes mischievous. “Not even for me?” 

Corvo opens one eye again. 

Levi laughs, and smooths Corvo’s hair from his brow. “I’m teasing, my dear Corvo. Rest while you have the opportunity.”

Corvo closes his eyes and mutters something under his breath, shifting his weight and tightening his arms around Levi’s body. “Now you’ve gone and woken me up,” he says, even though he’s very much still half-asleep. 

Levi sputters another laugh and elects to kiss along Corvo’s collarbones instead of replying. Corvo sighs and rests his chin on top of Levi’s head and ends up dozing off again. Levi follows suit with his ear against Corvo’s heart.


	13. Whale Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kissy Prompts #9 and #10: one small kiss, pulling away for an instant, then devouring each other AND staring at the other’s lips, trying not to kiss them, before giving in. A tumblr request.

Corvo takes him out on a small boat, not unlike Billie’s skiff, so he can say goodbye to the whales. 

At the request, Corvo had offered his finest ship, had offered to bring aboard fine foods and wines like nothing Levi had ever tasted. He had offered sweet deserts; he’d offered _fireworks_. Levi had smiled, and only requested some small, intimate thing, just the two of them, and no fireworks. 

Corvo had seemed pleased. 

They’d left in the dead of night, sneaking past guards for the simple thrill of it, keeping to the shadows on the streets, and Corvo had pushed the skiff away from the dock with a pole until they were far out enough that no one would hear the engine start. 

“There may not be any whales so close to Dunwall’s shore,” Corvo warns as he lights a lantern, voice still low as if he wants to take great care not to break the silence _too_ much.  

“They’ll come,” Levi promises. 

Corvo looks at him, then nods. “And you’re sure they won’t sink us in this tiny boat?” 

Levi laughs. “Have faith in me, my dear Corvo. I would never endanger you.”   
  
The lantern light casts a soft orange glow over Corvo’s dark features, the moonlight pale over the cut of his shoulders. This is supposed to be a serious occasion, perhaps even sad, but Levi can’t help feeling that it’s a freeing thing, and he can’t help thinking Corvo looks exquisite in that light, against a backdrop of Gristol’s night sky and floating buoys. 

“It’s a beautiful night,” Corvo says, and Levi thinks he can’t possibly know how beautiful. He leans over the side of the boat, trailing his fingers over the calm water. There are no clouds, and the stars blend with distant street lights somewhere along the horizon. Levi can feel Corvo’s eyes on him, and he can hear whale song getting closer. 

Corvo looks out in wonder. Water spouts from approaching leviathans, and Levi feels a warmth in his chest. 

“Levi?” Corvo asks with mild alarm. Levi’s standing now, weight rocking the boat. He kicks off his shoes and yanks off his jacket, tossing it to the floor of the skiff before he jumps off the edge into the water. Corvo calls his name a little more urgently, and Levi can see his broad shape leaning over the side of the boat. Whale song is loud in his ears. 

He surfaces, and Corvo startles. “Join me,” he pleads, and Corvo eyes flit over his face once before he leans back to pull off his boots. Levi’s heart flutters with a nervous kind of delight as Corvo takes off his jacket and discards that royal blue vest, and Corvo slides into the water with grace Levi didn’t bother to try for. 

He’s beautiful, soaking wet and bathed in moonlight. 

“You’re crazy,” Corvo says, and glances out towards those approaching whales. 

Levi laughs, high pitched and excited. “You knew that,” he replies. 

“I did,” Corvo admits, and says nothing about how eagerly he’d followed Levi overboard.

The cold bites into Levi’s flesh, and he’s really still too skinny to be swimming at night when winter isn’t so far off. It’s not enough to usher him out of the water. Instead, he takes a deep breath and dives down, tugs Corvo down with him and points to a pod of toothy beasts speeding towards them. Corvo jerks, his noise of surprise muffled underwater, and surfaces again, coughing. Levi follows him up and laughs. 

“That’s not funny,” Corvo objects, but he’s grinning. 

“They won’t bite you,” Levi reassures with a snort. 

“Let’s hope not,” Corvo says, and the whales are circling the boat. 

Levi reaches out to touch one. It rumbles underneath his hand, pleased and mournful, happy to see him and missing him all at once. Corvo hesitates; Levi reaches out to take his hand and guides him towards another beast. The whale song is soft and low at first, and then it is deafening, and the city starts to stir. 

Levi says his goodbyes in a language too old for Corvo to understand. Corvo’s looking at him instead of the whales. Whalers that live close to the shore are shouting in the distance, the lights of their houses flicking on in the dark. Gristol hasn’t seen a pod so close to shore in years. “Go,” Levi says, and the whales flee with such force that the water crashes over Levi and Corvo’s heads. 

Corvo climbs back into the skiff and shakes out his hair, then reaches over to offer Levi a hand. Levi climbs up and falls halfway into Corvo’s lap. The night air forces a shudder through him. 

“Are you alright?” Corvo asks, wrapping his own jacket around Levi’s shoulders. 

Levi draws the jacket tight around his shoulders. It smells faintly of gunpowder and steel, of sea air and _Corvo_ , and he looks at Corvo’s mouth for too long and tries not to kiss him, really, he does. 

But Corvo leans into him when he does, and the first kiss is a chaste little thing, curious and hesitant. He draws back to see Corvo’s reaction, wishing he could still see into Corvo’s heart. That heart beats underneath Levi’s fingertips, where his hand is pressed to Corvo’s chest, against his soaked shirt. 

Corvo looks breathless and awed, intrigued and interested and _hungry_. Levi kisses him again and Corvo melts into it, bites lightly at Levi’s lip and lets Levi press his tongue into his mouth. Corvo runs fingers through Levi’s short hair and Levi slides his hands under Corvo’s shirt, muses that blue looks gorgeous on him and would look better on the skiff floor. He wants to tell Corvo how much he always favored him, wants to tell him how beautiful he is through human eyes, when the Void doesn’t mute him to fondness and something not unlike love. 

“Levi,” Corvo breathes in between kisses, and Levi has never loved having a name more.


	14. Unrequited, Perhaps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Writing Prompts #67: "Oh my god! You're in love with them!" A tumblr request

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a Ko-fi now! If you want to push your request to top priority, you can find the link on my blog, in the hover menu!

“By the Void…you really are in love with him.” 

Levi chokes on his tea. 

Emily has invited him out to lunch in the private gardens, as she makes effort to do whenever she has the time. Corvo and Billie are sparing a little ways off, further testing Billie’s power and making an effort to get Corvo’s to resurface. Corvo’s all business; Billie’s uneasy. Either could hold their own against the other, but there’s still a quiet anger in Corvo’s eyes when he looks at her, and Billie would rather not make any attempts to stab the man when she’s grown fond of his daughter. 

“You say peculiar things, Empress,” Levi replies, recovering enough to tidy his mouth with a napkin. 

“Do I?” Emily asks. It’s more of a statement than a question, a dare to challenge her. _The Empress voice._

“Yes,” Levi says flatly, unimpressed. 

Emily purses her lips and glances towards her father again. Levi follows her gaze. Corvo’s worked up a sweat, bangs plastered to his forehead, layers of clothes discarded in the summer heat. They can hear Billie’s knife chittering louder whenever Corvo comes near, like the blade can taste how he was once Void-touched. “You’re close with Meagan,” Emily says, then clears her throat and corrects herself. “Billie. But you’re only watching him, every time I look.”  

“That hardly means anything,” Levi objects. 

“It wouldn’t if this was the only occasion,” Emily says pointedly. 

His cheeks flush. He wonders how many times she’s caught him staring at Corvo, how many times she’s caught him dreamy-eyed. In the Void, it was easy to hide emotion; now that he walks among men, he forgets he should school his expressions in front of others. 

“Corvo has always fascinated me,” he says calmly, and pours himself more tea.  “It can’t be so odd that I to want to watch him with human eyes.” 

“Mm,” Emily hums. She sips her tea. “You look at him the way my mother used to, once.” 

Levi falters. Emily looks at him. Levi says helplessly, “That’s hardly fair, Emily.” 

“If you’re worried that I mind it, I don’t,” Emily says quickly. “Mother would want him to be happy. And I know you wouldn’t court him just to rise among the nobles.” 

Just hearing the idea sickens him. Corvo has no shortage of suitors, he knows, and for every would-be lover that seeks after him for his looks, there are twice as many who pursue him for the sake of power. In the Void, he’d hardly paid it any mind. Now, it makes something uncomfortably hot burn in his chest. 

And then there is the idea of Jessamine. Levi pushes that one aside. 

“Do you always meddle in your father’s affairs?” he says after a moment. 

Emily wrinkles her nose. “Don’t say it like that,” she complains, then softens. “He’s been lonely a long time, that’s all. He pretends he isn’t, for my sake. Maybe for his sake, too.” 

_He has no shortage of suitors,_ Levi wants to say. _He could have anyone he wanted. He doesn’t want me._ “As much as I’m inclined to agree,” he says instead, “I’m afraid you’re still mistaken.” 

For a long moment, the only sound is the quiet clink of dishes and the loud clash of swords. Emily says, “Is it so frightening? Being human again?” 

It is terrifying. The affection for Corvo that Emily so casually speaks of has taken root in his chest, like brambles tangled along his ribs. He can already feel the bone-deep ache that would surface should Corvo reject his advances. He could entertain the thought of courting this man for the briefest second, and nerves would rise up in him like the strongest tide. After millennia of solitude and muted sentiment, everything he feels now is enough to overwhelm him, enough to make his own breath stick in his throat. He has seen heartbreak over and over, and he has seen it fracture souls before, and he is terrified of it. 

“You have no idea how lucky you are,” he says, “To have been born into this life and to have experienced it uninterrupted, to feel over a billion heartbeats in your own chest, and to be used to it. He will refuse me.”  
  
Emily frowns, absentmindedly rubs the mark on her hand. “He didn’t before.”

“I did not ask him, then.” 

Corvo suddenly lets out a gleeful shout. Levi and Emily look up in time to see Billie tumbling into the grass, sent flying by a gust of wind from Corvo’s hand. Corvo’s face is alight with victory, his grin wild and youthful. It’s a rare sight, nowadays. 

“Did you see?!” he calls. 

Emily is already on her feet and running to congratulate him. Levi is on his feet too, and shock still, struck by how much he loves this man.


End file.
